REGION: Stone's staff expense tops among supervisors

When it came to the people working for them, Jeff Stone had the largest and most expensive staff among
Riverside County supervisors
last year, while Bob Buster had the smallest, according to county records.

Stone's 3rd District staff cost county taxpayers more than $800,000 in 2011.

Coming in a close second was Supervisor John Benoit, whose staff generated a little less than $800,000 in expenses.

At the other end of the scale, the staff compensation in Buster's 1st District office totaled a little more than $550,000, the records show.

However, Buster's total did not include the cost of a temporary worker funded by another county department.

Late last year, the 1st District benefited from Economic Development Agency retiree Aurelio Aguirre's decision to come out of retirement for about four months to work on district projects, said David Stahovich, Buster's chief of staff.

Aguirre was paid $36,452 for that work, and the expense was picked up by the Economic Development Agency, not the supervisor, according to the agency.

"He was able to hide a significant salary cost in somebody else's budget," said
Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries
of Lake Elsinore, who is running for Buster's seat on the Board of Supervisors.

Still, even if Aguirre's pay is included, it does not raise Buster's staffing expense to the level of other supervisors.

The next-highest total is $684,215, for the staff of Supervisor John Tavaglione, who represents the Riverside-Corona area.

Supervisor Marion Ashley's total is slightly larger than that, at $708,527, according to the records. The 5th District board member represents Menifee, Moreno Valley and Perris.

Staff sizes varied in 2011 from five in Buster's office to six in Tavaglione's to eight each for Stone, Benoit and Marion Ashley, not counting interns.

Each office had at least one intern and Ashley had two, the records show.

Most chiefs of staff earned base salaries of about $125,000 last year, while those working for Benoit and Ashley each made $106,000.

A hop and a skip

Stone said his top-ranked expense is justified because of the 3rd District's large size and its distance from the county seat, triggering the need for remote offices.

"You have to taken into account that Bob (Buster) lives in Riverside and he is just a hop and a skip from the CAC (County Administrative Center)," Stone said. "I live in Southwest (County), on the border of San Diego County."

The administrative center in downtown Riverside is where the board holds its meetings and supervisors have their main offices.

"We've trimmed wherever we can," he said. "But we have a backbone of services to provide over a large geographical area."

Stone's district covers 1,112 square miles.

Only Benoit's 4th District ---- spanning the vast desert reaches of eastern Riverside County ---- is larger, at 4,958 square miles.

Buster's district spans 488 square miles.

Besides his main downtown Riverside office, Stone also operates offices in French Valley and Hemet.

His district
takes in Temecula, Murrieta, French Valley, Wine Country, Hemet, San Jacinto and Idyllwild. It used to include Menifee and Canyon Lake before boundaries were redrawn recently.

Buster represents Canyon Lake now, along with Wildomar, Lake Elsinore, unincorporated areas to the north and east, and a portion of the city of Riverside. He operates a satellite office in Wildomar.

"I think it's important for the leadership of the county, which has been asking everyone to tighten their belts, to set the example," Buster said. "And I think I've done that."

Buster and Stone are seeking re-election. Buster faces two challengers; one person has qualified to run against Stone.

The outrage meter

Ashley represents a territory about half the size of Stone's district and slightly larger than Buster's.

Hastings said the office is especially frugal when it comes to other operational expenses. She said she and her colleagues pay for their cellphones, travel and office supplies.

And Hastings said the staffing cost is about to be shaved. "We are looking at the reduction of at least one staff member by June 30," she said.

Kris Vosburgh, executive director for the
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
in Los Angeles, said supervisors' staff expenses sound reasonable, since Riverside is California's fourth-largest county in area and population.

"It doesn't go very high on the outrage meter," Vosburgh said. "Supervisors are essentially the mayors of the unincorporated areas of the county. They have executive powers and they have legislative powers."

He said lawmakers in Sacramento have staffs of similar size, and yet fewer responsibilities.

Total compensation for the supervisors themselves cost taxpayers a little more than $1 million last year, or up to $220,000 per board member, records show.

Supervisors each earned base salaries of $143,031, plus car allowances of $6,600 and vacation perks of $11,013, in the case of four supervisors. Ashley's vacation pay was $9,742.

Totaling those figures, four supervisors earned $160,644 each in 2011 and Ashley earned $159,373.

County spokesman Ray Smith said the vacation perk is something the supervisors are provided in lieu of not formally receiving vacation time.

Vosburgh, of the taxpayer watchdog group, questioned the in-lieu-of-vacation payments.

"I don't know anyone in the private sector that gets extra for vacations," he said. "What is that all about? They already draw a good salary. That's just a gift of public funds."

Extra from regional boards

Still, there is more to the salary picture.

The county paid most board members extra in 2011 for attending meetings of various county commissions. Buster received $1,775, Stone $750, Tavaglione $450, and Ashley $300, according to the records.

But there are other ways for supervisors to make money. They received thousands of dollars in 2011 from other agencies, for representing the county on various regional boards.

Compensation from those non-county boards included $11,025 for Buster, $7,600 for Ashley, $7,100 for Stone, $6,380 for Benoit, and $1,875 for Tavaglione, according to the agencies.

Including those payments, Buster's total earnings exceeded $170,000, while Stone's, Benoit's and Ashley's came close to reaching that threshold.